


When I Wake Up All Alone (I'm Thinking Of Your Skin)

by SereneCalamity



Category: The Gifted (TV 2017), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-02-28 23:24:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13282095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SereneCalamity/pseuds/SereneCalamity
Summary: Clarice goes for a walk out to the kitchen one night when she can't sleep.





	When I Wake Up All Alone (I'm Thinking Of Your Skin)

**Author's Note:**

> Title of the song comes from 'Strangers' by Halsey and Lauren Jauregui.   
> Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or the title.

Clarice Fong blinked blearily as she woke up, rolling over on the narrow couch that she had been asleep on and breathing out heavily as she woke up. It wasn't often these days that she slept for very long, and when she picked up the tacky, burner phone from the ground, she saw that it was nearly three o'clock. She had slept for nearly five hours, and that was pretty much a record. She gave herself another minute or so to wake up properly, and then she sat up, rolling her shoulders and twisting her head from side to side.

On the floor to her right was a mattress with a couple of thin blankets, on the mattress were two kids that she, John Proudstar and Marcos Diaz had found running from Sentinel Services last night. Clarice wasn't sure what their powers were yet, although John had caught a glimpse of the boy messing with someone's mind, but she was just glad that they were safe. From the way that they had looked when they had found them—dirty faces and hands, ripped clothes—she was guessing that they had been living on the street. They looked a lot better now, after having showers, getting into proper clothes and then having something to eat, and Clarice was glad that they had finally fallen asleep, because they had both been keyed up to begin with.

Clarice took in a deep breath as her mind wandered from the two kids that they had rescued last night, to her companions who had actually helped with the rescuing. Marcos was great, he kind of acted like a big brother to a lot of the mutants that they had rescued. He was going to be a father in just a few short months as well, given his girlfriend, Lorna Dane, was pregnant. Usually she was with them when they went out to rescue other mutants, but her morning sickness—which was more like all day sickness—had her glued to the bathroom floor.

And then there was John.

He had actually been the one who had found her as well. She had been nineteen and living on the streets for four years, given she had left her foster home when she was fifteen.

Clarice had actually given him a bloody nose when he had first grabbed her, because she had panicked and lashed out. John hadn't cared though, he had just wrapped his arms tightly around her to stop her from fighting anymore, and held her until she had stopped fighting.

John was kind of...He was kind of a lone wolf.

Which didn't really make sense, since he was kind of running the Mutant Underground, and when she had talked to Marcos and Lorna, she found out that he had been in the military and had also grown up on the Apache Reservation—both of which were very inclusive. Clarice wasn't sure what had changed, but John definitely preferred to internalize all his problems now, and he liked to try and take the world on by himself.

Marcos and Lorna were both good for him, forcing him to accept help from others and even open up a little. Sonya Simonson was probably good for him as well, and Clarice knew that they had been an item a while ago, but she wasn't the biggest fan of the mutant who also went by 'Dreamer'. There was just something about her that rubbed Clarice the wrong way.

Maybe it was jealousy.

 _That_ wasn't something that she really wanted to think about though.

Because whatever it was that they had, it was over now, and John had moved on.

To Clarice.

At least, she was pretty sure he had. 

Clarice felt a shiver run down her spine as she remembered a few nights ago, when she and John had gone out for medical supplies. It had been a close call, John distracting the pretty nurse while Clarice had portalled herself into the supply closet, and afterwards, John had pulled the car over to the side of the road. Clarice had frowned at him, not sure what was happening, when he had tugged her across the centre console and onto his lap and started kissing her.

There had definitely been signs before that, but they hadn't been obvious. After two years of being with the Mutant Underground, Clarice had told John her feelings for him. She had been blunt, because there really wasn't any point in being coy, and she had also said that she knew he wasn't ready for anything and she didn't expect him to return the feelings. John had looked surprised and he hadn't really said anything, and although Clarice couldn't help but feel a little hurt, it was nothing that she hadn't expected.

That had been nearly eight months ago, but it seemed as though John had made up his mind.

Clarice licked her lower lip as she recalled yesterday morning, when she had been helping Catilin Strucker and Lorna with breakfast for their ever growing mutant family, and John had come in. His fingers had briefly touched the inside of her wrist, and there had been a small, intimate smile on his face before he had moved to talk to Augustus Roerig.

In the grand scheme of things, nothing had really happened.

They'd been friends for a while, although they butted heads quite frequently, given how stubborn minded they both were, and they'd made out once.

That was it, but that was enough to send Clarice's mind into overdrive. She felt John's phantom touch every time she was close to him and whenever she closed his eyes, all she could think about was his lips on hers. There was no way that she was going to get back to sleep now, so Clarice got up, running her fingers through her dark and purple hair, attempting to untangle it. She got up from the couch and quietly walked out of the tiny shoe box room that she had been sleeping in for the past few months since they had ended up in this abandoned warehouse, and walked down the hallway.

The warehouse was almost completely silent, except for some snores and snuffles. They had almost doubled in size since Clarice and joined the Mutant Underground nearly three years ago, and Clarice was glad to be a part of something that was doing so good. Clarice headed toward the kitchen area to get a glass of water. When she got there, she wasn't too surprised to see John leaning against the table, his fingers working across the iPad screen he was holding.

John didn't sleep all that well, just like her.

"Hey," Clarice greeted him, her voice quiet, and John looked up, blinking slowly before giving her a small, half smile.

"Hey," he murmured. "Couldn't sleep?"

"Actually, I managed to get almost five hours," Clarice responded before going to the cupboard. She took out one of the chipped, mismatched glasses and then filled it with water. She was facing away from John as she drank from it, but she could feel his eyes on her back. She sort of wished that she had pulled on a jersey or something before she had left the room, all she was wearing was a pair of leggings and a tiny singlet, without any bra underneath, and she could feel the heat of his eyes against her skin.

"Clare?" John's voice was quiet and it was also directly behind her. Clarice swallowed hard, putting down her glass before turning around. He was so close behind her that when she turned around to face him, with her back pressed hard against the bench, she could feel his breath on her cheeks.

"Yeah?" Clarice managed to ask, even though her breath was sticking in her throat.

"Do you remember a while ago..." John tilted his head to the side, his eyes gliding over her face and down to the curve of her bare shoulder. His hand came up, touching her elbow, his thumb smoothing over the crease in her arm. "You told me that you had feelings for me? And you told me that you would wait for you?"

"I don't recall that being said," Clarice raised an eyebrow at him, glad that she still had a little bit of sass left in her, despite feeling breathless with the gorgeous man so close to her.

"Well, it was something to that effect," John continued with a smirk, and Clarice opened her mouth to correct him, remind him that yes, she had told him that she liked him, but she had said that she understood why he couldn't return the sentiment. Not quite that she would just hang around like some mooning teenager. "I was thinking—maybe we could pick up from there."

"Isn't that what we were doing in your car?" Clarice stated and John shrugged and then leaned forward. Their lips came together softly at first, and Clarice felt her stomach twist and her heart beat faster as the hand that wasn't on her arm moved to her hip. Clarice rose up on her toes, trying to push their mouths together more firmly. John pulled back for a moment, and looked down at the her bright green eyes, and she pulled her bottom lip into her mouth as she waited for him to make the next move. When he leaned back down to meet her lips, she jumped a little, so that her ass landed on the bench and she was a little closer to his mouth.

His hands moved over her skin, burning everywhere that they touched, and his tongue pushed into her mouth, making her shiver. It felt different from the time in his car, a couple of days ago, it didn't feel rushed, like they were just trying to find a stolen moment. It felt passionate but unrushed, and when John's hand slipped up the back of her singlet, she wondered if something more was going to happen between them tonight. His hand pressed between her shoulder blades, his calloused fingers splaying out over her soft skin, and she felt more shivers spread through her, her toes curling.

"Uh—" came a voice from behind them, and they both pulled apart, John quickly turning around and standing in front of Clarice. "Um, well..." it was Andy Strucker, his eyes wide in surprise and his lips parted. "I just wanted a drink?" He finally stated, and then he looked over John's shoulder and saw Clarice. He smirked cheekily. "Hey, Blink."

"Hey, kid," Clarice replied, feeling her cheeks burn.

"We were just leaving," John said, trying not to grin as he turned and helped Clarice down from the bench.

"Sleep well!" Andy called after them, a teasing lilt to his voice as the two adults quickly walked down the hall.

"Want to share my single mattress and scratchy blanket?" John asked, nudging Clarice with his shoulder.

"Sounds like an offer too good to refuse," Clarice replied, her smile growing as she felt John's fingers twine together with hers.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think :)


End file.
